War Machine, Mariusz Pudzianowski among Saturday winners

Polish heavyweight and five-time World’s Strongest Man winner Mariusz Pudzianowski (4-2) avenged a May loss to James Thompson (16-15) with a contentious majority-decision win in the main event of Saturday’s KSW 17 event in Lodz, Poland.

Pudzianowski clearly dropped the opening round after Thompson outstruck and outgrappled his foe. In the second, Pudzianowski battled back to land a few shots of his own, and most expected the two-round fight to head to an overtime frame.

It did not, and Pudzianowski was awarded a majority-decision win, sending Thompson into an expletive-laden on-mic tirade.

Pudzianowski improves to 2-2 in his past four fights. Thompson falls to 1-4 in his past five fights. Should a rubber match materialize between the two, Thompson will likely insist it not take place in Pudzianowski’s native land.

Meanwhile, in Pharr, Texas, a no-longer-imprisoned War Machine (formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver) earned a third-round TKO win over UFC and Bellator Fighting Championships veteran Roger Huerta in a welterweight main event at Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1.

With both fighters competing for the first time in 2011, War Machine and Huerta engaged in a back-and-forth affair. But in the third and final frame, Huerta escaped a few submission attempts before finding himself pinned under War Machine and desperately hoping to avoid the heavy punches coming from the top. His defense was ruled inadequate, and the fight was waved off.

With the win, War Machine (12-4) improves to 2-1 in his past three fights. Huerta (21-6-1), who falls to just 1-5 in his past six outings, clutched his ribs following the finish and may have entered the contest with a pre-existing injury.

UFC and PRIDE vet Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (12-10) came up short in his KSW 17 bout with Jan Blachowicz (14-3), dropping a unanimous decision. The victory offered some revenge for Blachowicz, whose lone loss in his past 12 trips to the cage was a March bout against Sokoudjou.

UFC, Bellator and IFL veteran Matt Horwich (26-20-1) lost his third-straight fight, dropping a unanimous decision to Michal Materla (16-3) at KSW 17. Meanwhile, with the win Materla improves to 8-1 in his past nine fights.

Polish lightweight prospect Artur Sowinski (12-5) scored a highlight-reel finish of UFC and WEC veteran Maciej Jewtuszko (8-2). A crisp uppercut and several hard follow-up shots earned the quick first-round finish for Sowinski, who is now 4-1 in his past five fights.

In another hotly contested decision, James Zikic (20-9-2) lost a controversial split to Polish middleweight Antoni Chmielewski (22-8) at KSW 17. While fairly back-and-forth in nature, the bout seemed to favor Zikic’s heavier striking and more effective time in top position. However, two of three judges disagreed, and Chmielewski was awarded the win.

Former UFC champion Dave Menne (45-16-2) returned to the win column, though his post-fight comments made it sound as if his UWF 1 appearance wasn’t exactly a financial win. Menne needed just 95 seconds to score a submission win guillotine choke over Eric Davila (20-10), improving to 4-1 in his past five fights. After the fight, Menne took to the mic to claim he was only paid a fraction of the money owed to him by the event’s promoter.

In a highlight-reel finish worthy of a quick YouTube search, Marius Zaromskis (16-6) scored an incredible first-round finish of Brazilian Bruno Carvalho (13-5) in the first round of their “K-1: Rumble of the Kings 6″ bout in Stockholm, Sweden. Zaromskis landed a flashy somersault kick in the closing moments of the opening round, staggering his foe. Punches and knees followed, earning Zaromskis his third win in his past three outings.

Ten-year veteran Joe “Diesel” Riggs (35-14) needed a mere 56 seconds to to score a stoppage win over MMA ironman Shannon “The Cannon” Ritch (47-75). Both fighters were hoping for a much-needed win in the main event of the “Duel for Domination: MMA Extravaganza” bout in Phoenix, but it was Riggs who snapped a three-fight losing streak. Ritch falls to 2-10 in his past 12 bouts.

Two-time UFC veteran Jesse Bongfeldt (16-5-1) earned a second-round submission win over an outmatched Brandon MacArthur (6-18) in the main event of Rumble in the Cage 45 in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. “Water” Bongfeldt returns to the in column after an 0-1-1 stint in the octagon.